Chickens, Pasture and Flowers

Our broilers are 7 1/2 weeks old now. Tomorrow they go in the freezer. They are not quite as big as normal, but they are still a good size. We will let you know what the average weight is. This is our chicken until next year and chicken for several other families.

See the little guy by the waterer? I doubt he will even be 3 lbs. There is always at least one little one, but this guy looks smaller than normal.

I finally was able to get a picture of a bee on my Echinacea. They don't like me getting close and they fly away.

This is one of my Rudbeckia's blooming. I don't know why but mine always blooms later than everyone elses and doesn't have as many flowers.

This is that flower that is growing on stems taller than me. Someone told me that think it is a Wild Coreopsis.

I want to say this has Geranium in its name, but I am not for sure on it either.

Even the Queen Anne's lace can be pretty.

Here is a Jewelweed flower. Jewelweed is the best remedy for poison ivy. The stem is hollow with thickish walls. We cut a portion of the stem and put it through an old garlic press we keep for that purpose. It comes out almost like salve and you can rub it on the itchy places. It works for bug bites too. We were told one time that anywhere you see poison ivy to look around that God had placed a remedy nearby.

Our pasture was originally seeded to resemble a European lea (meadow). Many of the plants have died back, but you can still see lots of them. There is some alfalfa, but I have not noticed much of it this year. I may not have been out there at the right time either. This is one of the vetches that is part of our pasture. There is also some Crown Vetch, but you don't see as much of that.

There is also Yarrow. There was a couple of other herbs, but I can't remember what we were told.

There is White Clover.

There is Red Clover.

The animals all seem to enjoy the pasture. We are missing something in the soil though. We are getting LOTS of thistles.